Mirror CavernCordoned off from the lake under a cape of stone is a sheltered grotto sized like a dragon weyr. Running water dribbles over the entrance not in any great torrent but lesser strings of liquid. Within, isolated waters assume a perfectly protected calmness pitching prisms of refracted light onto the walls and dome-like ceiling. How they flash when the pool's crystal clear surface is disturbed, serpents of light scattering like tunnel snakes from a lantern. Surfaces are naturally unfinished which explains the varying depths, 2-12 feet, and ability to be comfortly seated. As with any small cavern sounds have a way of being amplified be they swim strokes or nuggets of gossip.

It is early evening, and the sunset can find Erikk in the Mirror Cavern. He does laps in the water, his muscled body moving with practiced ease. His stuff lies to the side of the pool, along with his fair of green, gold, brown, and bronze - all of which are chirruping and snapping at each other in mock battle. It is little known how touchy his flizzen fair can be. The sounds of water echo off the walls as multi-colored lights dance around the cavern, caused by Erikk's splashing.

Another little queen flits into the Mirror Cavern, followed by her human - a young woman slipping with relative quiet across the surface of the water and into the beauty of the cave. In Kyara's hand is also a long, water-proofed tube, though nothing gives a clue as to what could be within. Blaze squawks at the mock-fighting fair across the way, and that's when the weyrling notices that she's come into an occupied space - Erikkhan is there. Pulling her green-wrapped form from the water to sit on a nearby shelf of rock, she smirks. Well, there goes the little experiment she was going to conduct in solitude. "Seems I always manage to run into you in the water, Harper Erikkhan," she calls, smirking a bit. Because she can recall seeing him maybe once on dry land.

Erikkhan hears Kyara's talk and surfaces smiling, water trailing down his face and chest. "Must be something about me being wet…" he comments, and lets a wide grin cross his face. He pulls himself from the water, revealing EVERYTHING but what's covered by a sleek, skinny pair of swimwear. Seems someone has been spending time with a certain clothes-savvy rider. He grabs a towel and dabs at his face and chest. "How are you, Kyara?"

"Must be," she chuckles as she watches Erikkhan come out of the water, shaking her head a little bit when she catches herself observing his easy on the eyes-ness again. Well, when the man is wearing so little, it's hard not to see it. "I'm doing very well," she replies, stretching a bit. "Drill-worn, but that's routine now. Just came to cool off and play a little music before my day ends." She taps on the tube with the end of her comment. "Though some conversation is nice to throw into the mix, too. That doesn't have to do with flying formations." She has a grin of her own for the Harper as she asks, "How goes the work on your paintings?"

Erikkhan laughs and the action lights up his face. He comes and sits near Kyara, his shoulder brushing hers (if that's ok). He drags a wine skin out of his bag and offers it too her after taking a drink himself. When he looks back at her, a half heated smile crosses his lips. Even his body language flirts; no wonder there are eyes on him everywhere he goes. "The paintings go well. I only have two left to restore." His flizzen fair has just noticed the appearance of Kyara and her own lizard. Green Roane takes an interest and flits over to smell and sniff at Kyara; the other three hiss their displeasure from their ledge. Antisocial little gits they are.

Kyara is fine with the brush of Erikkhan's shoulder against her own, if a bit surprised by it, and she smirks a bit at him as he offers the wineskin. "Thank you," she says, taking it and sipping at it in turn. The smile she notes…is intriguing to her. Not an expression she's accustomed to seeing turned in her direction, but it's nevertheless contagious and makes it across to her own mouth. As the green firelizard comes to inspect the newcomer, Kyara holds out her own hand, one finger extended for the little flit's perusal as Blaze comes over to chirrup a greeting. "Glad to hear it," she says, eyebrows rising. "And what will you do when you're done with them? Anything new to pursue after that?"

Erikk shrugs. "The one's I've already restored were either gifted to friends or back to their original owners; the two I've left to restore I'm keeping. And as for after, I have a few portraits commissioned. One of We'bey and his dragon, for sure." Another grin crosses his face, but this one is a private grin, one that says he won't talk of what crossed his mind. But, it is soon gone and that slow infectious grin is back on his face. "What of you? Besides the onerous job of being a rider that is?" Roane chirrups a greeting to the friendly Blaze, erupting into friendly flizzen chatter.

"Hmmmm…" Kyara traces the surface of the water languidly with the bottom of one foot, though she gives a lopsided grin that wrinkles her nose at the Harper's assessment of her "job." "Oh, it's not so onerous," she chuckles. "At least, it ought to be less so once I'm out of weyrlinghood. I could say painting is onerous in it's own way," and she chances a brush of her own against his shoulder; perhaps the flirtatious air about the Harper is a bit catching as well. "But I certainly appreciate it. Nevermind I might be slightly biased from my own Harper background. I look forward to seeing what you can capture of my fellow weyrling."

Erikkhan lets out a rich, deep laugh. "Aye, I guess you could say it is…in its own way." Kyara's brush of his own shoulder gets her a deep heated glance from those handsome hazel eyes of his. An eyebrow raises in question, but nothing is spoken aloud. He reaches for the wine skin and allows his fingers to brush hers…ever so lightly. "And as for We'bey… He and his green will make a stunning pair I'm sure.”

Kyara hands the wineskin back, trying very hard not to make it obvious that Erikkhan's fingers over hers just made her shiver slightly. That's something new. Flirting: it's something she'd almost forgotten about, what with having her life taken over by becoming a dragonrider and dealing with a crush of her own that may as well be unattainable. She forgot it's…nice. But she is woefully inexperienced at it, and while she catches his eyes with her own briefly, trying to return the look, she glances away quickly, a low laugh rising up. "Uhm… If I asked you for the same - a small one - what would you need in the way of payment?" Stick to the painting topic; that's safe, right?

Don't think Erikk doesn't notice Kyara's reactions. He smiles widely, the movement brightening his features. "I suppose it would be a matter of what was being painted and how long it takes. But a small painting is generally around three or four marks. I make my own paints and pigments, so I don’t charge quite as much as others." He takes a long draw from the wine skin; when he's done he passes it back, a lock of his wayward hair falling in his face.

Giving a quiet hmm of thought once again, Kyara accepts the returned wineskin, trying her own hand at brushing fingers over his. For the rather reserved person Kyara considers herself to be, that is a bold thing, and she smirks at herself for the push she makes to do it. "I was thinking…a small one of Liareth," she says, getting her eyes up to his again and hanging on to the gaze just a little bit longer before taking another drink. His price quote gets a chuckle. "Oh, I think I could manage that," she affirms, then leans slightly his way as if to confide something. "But I think you'd be selling yourself short, from what I hear of what you do. I'd gladly give you five or six."

Erikkhan chuckles loudly. "Well… if you want to pay that much I certainly won't stop you. A man has to live after all." Finger brush is noted, and, if allowed, he'll take her hand and kiss it. "Though I couldn't imagine taking so much from such a lovely lady." He grins at her again, and he too holds the look.

"Exactly…" Kyara finds herself robbed of any ability to elaborate further as Erikkhan takes her hand and kisses it, the sensation of his lips against her skin sending yet another shiver through her and causing her breath to catch slightly. She could be alarmed by it, as unfamiliar as it is to her…but isn't. In fact, she quite likes it. "It wouldn't be such a stretch, I assure you," she manages to get out, surprised at the suddenly darker tone her voice has taken on. And it almost goes without saying that she's blushing rather fiercely by this point. "You…Faranth…" She goes into chuckling again, clearing her throat a bit. "I'm rather glad I ran into you this evening," she says, simply watching his eyes.

Erikkhan lets a smile cross his lips that is slightly predatory and utterly male. "Oh? Why would that be?" He asks, his voice too has gone low, to a soft growling purr, really. He keeps her hand in his for now. He rubs a thumb across the back of her hand, his eyes watching her face. The blush gets Kyara rewarded with a winning smile. He uses his free hand to take the skin and take a drink.

Though utterly fascinated for a moment with watching Erikkhan's thumb tracing over her hand, she glances up at him through her lashes, taking a subtle, steadying breath and evaluating the also unfamiliar additional warmth that suddenly seems to be tracking through her veins. "I…" She can't help chuckling at her own expense, giving a small shake of her head. "It's just that I haven't had much of a chance to…appreciate the finer points of being in the company of a…handsome and charming gentleman such as yourself…since becoming a rider. Or since coming to Igen, really." Or ever, if she really is honest with herself. Jerrig didn't count. And her attraction to K'ane is…not something to be acted on, at this point. Plus she's thoroughly enjoying this attention from Erikkhan, despite the flutter in her stomach it causes. They're pleasant butterflies. "So…there you have it, Harper Erikkhan." She may not do well with the words part of this, but there is a decidedly…uncharacteristic (for her) curve to the smile she gives him. In a very good way.

Erikkhan smiles widely. "I'm surprised that anything male doesn't trip over itself for you. You're very pretty." He returns her grin with one of his own. They're sitting relatively close and he debates closing the distance, but is unsure if it would be a welcome advance. Flirt he may be, but no one can ever say he take advantage.

Kyara's blush deepens at his words, and she dips her head for a moment. "Thank you," she says quietly, looking back up and rather deliberately considering his face - the unruliness of still-damp hair, hazel eyes, the line of his jaw, the mouth so quick to smile… And while she, too, debates closing the distance, she isn't sure… As tempting as it is, there is a bit of fear of not knowing what she's doing overriding a desire to simply enjoy things, adding to the butterflies. "I'm quite flattered that you think me worth some attention," she says, a slight husky quality still evident her voice. "If I confessed to hoping for it again sometime, would that be…presumptuous of me?"

Erikkhan makes a low, pleasant sound, akin to a soft laugh, but not quite. "You wouldn't be presumptuous at all." He smiles at her and lays another kiss on her hand, though it is probably obvious at this point that he would be more than happy to kiss her elsewhere.

Oh, it is obvious to her, and while that second kiss on the hand only serves to increase the temptation to let him, enough of Kyara's nerves take over to warn her off it. Instead, she has a rather sensual smile for him, coupled with another low, rich laugh. "I'm glad," she says. "However…Liareth is asking for my attention now, and I have to go." Yes, use the dragon as an excuse. Really, it's more that she needs to mull a few things over before the next time she sees him. And on that note… "Do you think I might be lucky enough to run into you somewhere tomorrow? Say…later in the day?" She has to pull her gaze away from his lips more than once, but at least his eyes are a nice draw from that.

Erikkhan grins and releases her hand lightly. "But of course." He puts a few inches distance between himself and her out of respect. "When?"

Kyara thinks a moment; she isn't sure how long she's supposed to be occupied later the next day. All she knows is that the weyrlings were told to gather… "It'll probably be after sundown," she says, "though I don't know exactly when. Weyrling duties. Maybe I could…send Blaze to you, whenever I'm done? She knows who you are well enough by now." Her cheerful gold chirps in agreement from a perch above Erikkhan's head, looking down at him.

Erikkhan smiles even as his gold hisses a warning; she's not very tolerant of other golds. Erikk shushes her and looks at Kyara. "That should work beautifully. "

Grinning as she takes up the tube that she simply didn't think to open after a certain point, Kyara sighs. "Alright, then, Erikkhan. Tomorrow evening." With that, she leans a bit to give one last brush against his shoulder as she drops back into the water. "Have a very pleasant rest of tonight!" is called over her shoulder, with one last coy smirk given before she slips out of sight to the Lake and her lifemate. She has a little bit of thinking to do.

Erikkhan goes back to his swim, not ready to leave yet. A grin stays plastered on his face, though, and stays there ‘til he does go home.